In 1994, Ginsburgh received much publicity on account of an article "Baruch Hagever"[3] in which he praised Baruch Goldstein who had massacred 29 Arab worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.[4][5] Rabbi Ginsburgh wrote that it is possible to view Baruch Goldstein's act as following five Halachic principles, namely "sanctification of God's name", "saving life" (referring to testimonies that he had allegedly received regarding a planned Arab massacre of Jews[6]), "revenge", "eradication of the seed of Amalek" and "war".[7] Motti Inbari commented on this:

In his writings, Ginzburg gives prominence to Halachic and kabbalistic approaches that emphasize the distinction between Jew and non-Jew (Gentile), imposing a clear separation and hierarchy in this respect. He claims that while the Jews are the Chosen People and were created in God's image, the Gentiles do not have this status, and are effectively considered subhuman. Accordingly, for example, the commandment "Thou shall not murder does not apply to the killing of a Gentile, since "You shall not murder" relates to the murder of a human, while for him the Gentiles do not constitute humans. Similarly, Ginzburg stated that, on the theoretical level, if a Jew requires a liver transplant to survive, it would be permissible to seize a Gentile and take their liver forcefully. From this point only a small further step is required to actively encourage and support the killing of non-Jews, as Ginzburg did in the case of Goldstein.[8]

Controversy
In a statement to Moment Magazine Friedman was quoted as saying:

"I don’t believe in western morality, i.e. don’t kill civilians or children, don’t destroy holy sites, don’t fight during holiday seasons, don’t bomb cemeteries, don’t shoot until they shoot first because it is immoral. The only way to fight a moral war is the Jewish way: Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children (and cattle In response to the offense that Jews, Muslims, and others took to the statement Friedman responded:

"It is obvious, I thought, that any neighbor of the Jewish people should be treated, as the Torah commands us, with respect and compassion. Fundamental to the Jewish faith is the concept that every human being was created in the image of G-d, and our sages instruct us to support the non-Jewish poor along with the poor of our own brethren.

The sub-question I chose to address instead is: how should we act in time of war, when our neighbors attack us, using their women, children and religious holy places as shields. I attempted to briefly address some of the ethical issues related to forcing the military to withhold fire from certain people and places, at the unbearable cost of widespread bloodshed (on both sides!) -- when one’s own family and nation is mercilessly targeted from those very people and places."[6]

Just weeks after the arrest of alleged Jewish terrorist, Yaakov
Teitel, a West Bank rabbi on Monday released a book giving Jews
permission to kill Gentiles who threaten Israel.

Rabbi
Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the Yitzhar
settlement, wrote in his book "The King's Torah" that even babies and
children can be killed if they pose a threat to the nation.

Shapiro based the majority of his teachings on passages quoted from the Bible, to which he adds his opinions and beliefs.

"It
is permissable to kill the Righteous among Nations even if they are not
responsible for the threatening situation," he wrote, adding: "If we
kill a Gentile who has sinned or has violated one of the seven
commandments - because we care about the commandments - there is nothing
wrong with the murder."

Several
prominent rabbis, including Rabbi Yithak Ginzburg and Rabbi Yaakov
Yosef, have recommended the book to their students and followers.